Updated
Mayhem at some petrol pumps - but how are other city garages faring?
Carl Watton said we'd learned nothing in the two years since bog roll disappeared off our shelves - Credit: Sarah Burgess
Drivers are queuing for fuel as a shortage of HGV drivers starts to wreck petrol supply chains in Norwich.
On their way into work this morning, many city folk veered from their usual routes to fill up their tanks.
And by lunchtime Morrisons at Riverside had shut off half its pumps as its fuel supply began to run dry and queues tailed back to the roundabout in Albion Way.
A member of staff, who did not want to be named, said at some point they would run out completely and have to start turning people away.
Exhausted, he said things had turned "manic".
Anne McCrudden was one of the dozens waiting in her car to fill up.
She said: "I'm here because everyone else is filling up and I'd absolutely hate to run out.
Most Read
- 1 TUI flight to Tenerife cancelled as it was on the tarmac
- 2 Emergency services called to person in water on Prince of Wales Road
- 3 New Tesco store opens in city centre
- 4 Traffic builds around Earlham Park as gates open for Let's Rock
- 5 Motorcylist in 50s in hospital with serious injuries after tyre shop crash
- 6 Mystery over who needs to cut overgrown hedge amid safety fears
- 7 Norwich pub selling out on Sundays with new head chef's roast dinners
- 8 Parents 'terrified' after THIRD run-in with cars driving on pavement
- 9 Can you help trace this Norwich man's next of kin?
- 10 'I went to hospital with dental pain - it turns out I had cancer'
"I don't want to be selfish but I'm on my own and I need to get places.
"What if there was an emergency and I couldn't find anywhere to get petrol?"
Yvonne Ridge said she had to drive her daughter to Manchester at the weekend and needed enough fuel for the journey there and back.
She explained: "I'm here out of necessity, really."
Carl Watton said the entire saga was "ridiculous".
He added: "I'm here because I genuinely need to fill up. I work shifts and do a lot of driving.
"We've learned nothing in the two years since everyone was stockpiling bog roll.
"I'm sure if everyone was sensible there'd be no issue. But here we are again, in the exact same situation we were at the beginning of the pandemic."
Meanwhile at Tesco in Sprowston a customer said the queue was "ridiculous" - with members of staff having to direct traffic.
Not all garages are suffering the same fate however.
Jet petrol station in Rose Lane was comfortably quiet both this morning and at 2pm.
Manager Ramanathan Uthayarajan said he'd had a delivery of 40,000 litres just two days ago and was confident stocks would last.
But regular customer Carol Lowe conceded that news of shortages was making her "uneasy" as she filled up her tank to the brim.
Bus operators such as FirstBus and Konectbus have also been reporting delays due to petrol-related queuing.